


Aruba, 2017

by EarthsickWithoutYou



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-11-06 13:29:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11037147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarthsickWithoutYou/pseuds/EarthsickWithoutYou
Summary: What would have happened if the Legends made it to Aruba with no interruption at the end of the Season 2 finale?  While the team soaks up the sun and waves, Sara struggles to tell Rip how she feels about him, while Amaya and Mick's attempts to ignore their attraction become more and more futile.  Meanwhile, expecting to have a boring time with no particular plans or inspiration, Ray gets the surprise of his life when an unexpected guest shows up in his room.I'm labeling each chapter so that you can read all the way through or skip to the pairings you like, though there will be little appearances by almost all of the Legends in some chapters.  :)





	1. So you say you want to get away...

*Legends*

“Gideon,” Mick called out festively, “Set a course for Aruba.” His eyes sparkled with excitement as he grinned like a kid who had just been handed a giant bag of candy. 

Amaya suppressed a smile and rolled her eyes, turning away before Nate could notice the slight flush in her cheeks. Why did Mick have to be so cute, and why was she thinking about that instead of how cute Nate was? It made no sense and she had to put a stop to it.

“Setting course for Aruba, 2017,” Gideon replied blithely. 

“Wait!” Sara interrupted, jumping to her feet. She turned on the comms and said, “Rip.”

“Yes?” Rip’s voice replied from the drop ship he’d boarded, planning to go off and find himself. Sara summoned her nerve to continue with the urge of recklessness that had just come over her.

“Get up here. You’re not leaving yet. First, you’re coming to Aruba.” Sara let the words go rushing off her tongue before she could consider the ramifications of what they would reveal about her, about what she wanted. Which would be…Rip himself, little did he suspect. He was ready to run away from the team and she wasn’t ready to let him. Neither was she prepared to tell him why, though. Surely this provided a good opportunity to give herself time to figure out what the hell to do about that man. 

There was a long pause, followed by a quiet chuckle. “Well, alright, then,” Rip agreed, and Sara grinned widely, her heart leaping in her chest.

“So, Englishman was going to just slink off into the sunset without saying a word to any of us chumps, huh?” Mick chortled. “Typical.”

“We all have our personality quirks,” Amaya retorted drily, and Mick raised his eyebrows. He could tell that despite her assurance, in the heat of battle, when he needed it most, that she still believed in him…Amaya was mad that he’d betrayed the Legends and aligned himself with the Legion of Doom.

There was a big part of Mick that wished Amaya knew how much he regretted that decision, how it was going to keep him up at night for a long time, especially the look on her face when she’d registered his betrayal. Enough, he thought, annoyed with himself. It doesn’t matter.

Ray sighed dreamily. “Aruba. That does sound exciting, right? How come I don’t feel more excited?”

“Are you kidding me, man?” Jax was shocked at Ray’s reticence. “Sun, waves, beautiful people everywhere, drinks, partying, do you need me to keep going?” He rubbed his hands together. “I can’t wait!”

“While I don’t expect to do much ‘partying,’ I must agree with Jefferson,” Martin smiled, amused by his young partner’s exuberance. “We’ve certainly earned a break, as well as some relaxation and luxury. There’s also quite a few recreational activities and historical attractions of note in Aruba. The itinerary possibilities are endless.”

“Itinerary?” Jax scowled, though his eyes were still smiling. “Grey, you need to forget about that idea. This is the time to live it up!”

“I might even share my itinerary with those of you who are interested, once it’s completed,” Martin promised pridefully, ignoring Jax’s disapproval.

“Yeah, maybe,” Ray agreed distantly, his demeanor wistful. Not for the first time, he wondered about this strange sense of listlessness and melancholy that had descended on him recently. How could he feel lonely on a ship full of teammates?

“Come on, man!” Nate encouraged, “We’ve got your back.” He took Amaya’s hand, oblivious to the confused look that crossed her face. Amaya’s gaze flitted over to Mick’s as Rory stared at their intertwined fingers. “We’re gonna tear it up and enjoy that tropical nightlife!” Nate sighed happily, so innocently. “It’s going to be amazing.”

I’m doomed, Amaya thought.

“You know what?” Sara said thoughtfully, “I think it is.”

“I heard we’re going on holiday,” Rip observed jovially, stepping onto the bridge and dropping his travel bag on the floor. No sound had ever satisfied Sara more. He strapped into his chair and returned Sara’s smile, their faces full of friendship, camaraderie, and something simmering underneath that was just bound to boil over eventually.

“Gideon,” Sara called, “We’re ready to go.”


	2. Melting like ice on a summer day

*Amaya and Mick*

Amaya squinted up at the gorgeous, bright blue, sunny sky. It was so overwhelmingly, inherently joyful a sight that it lanced her heart with instant sadness. 

“Great, isn’t it? I knew you’d love this trail as soon as I looked up the info about it,” Nate explained, grinning around at the rocky terrain, and he was right. In fact, the national park they’d come to was the ideal place for both of them to enjoy. There was great hiking and beautiful nature for them both, exotic wildlife for Amaya to observe, and ancient cave drawings for Nate to investigate.

“You were right,” Amaya agreed with a kind smile. Yet her feelings seemed to be pushing her further and further to the point where she would no longer be able to maintain the facade that she returned Nate’s romantic feelings.

After their last mission, when he’d come to her after seeing her die and getting her back again, after realizing that he loved Amaya, Nate’s words of affection and devotion had been charming and sweet. Surely, this must be the man she wanted to be with, Amaya had reasoned. He was attentive, thoughtful, considerate…but there was the problem.

It had never been more glaringly obvious that her heart had no interest in being reasonable.

“Nate?” Amaya finally said, taking his hands and swallowing nervously.

“Yeah, what is it? Do you need more sunblock?” Nate asked attentively.

“No, I need to talk to you. Please,” she replied. The words hurt so much that they felt like poison on her tongue. “I think I’ve let our relationship go on for too long, thinking that we were good together. Because I like you so much. And now…”

“Because you…like me so much,” Nate observed, finally starting to put the pieces together. His face fell and Amaya’s heart went with it. The last thing she’d ever want to do was hurt him.

“Yes, I really do. I admire you, and I think any woman would be lucky to get the chance to be with you. But Nathaniel…that woman can’t be me. I’m so sorry.” Amaya teared up, guilt-ridden.

“Don’t be sorry,” Nate urged her, his face filled with grief even as he made her feelings the priority. “It’s not your fault. I’ve been so convinced we were meant to be together that I never stopped to consider it might not be what you wanted. I should have slowed down.”

“Do you…still want to check out those caves?” Amaya asked softly.

“Yeah, sure, but…I’ll go alone if you don’t mind. I’d like some time to think.” She nodded and he walked off, staring at the ground. 

Amaya had a good cry all the way back to the hotel the Legends were staying at, but she wiped her cheeks furiously with the backs of her hands when the taxi stopped at the front entrance. She saw her friends milling around and didn’t want to deal with their reactions to her emotional state or tell the tale of her break-up with Nate.

“Hey, you’re back early,” Sara commented, looking completely Aruba-chic in a bright floral bikini and sheer turquoise cover-up. “Thought you and Nate would be gone all day exploring that park.”

Amaya forced a laugh and lied, “I’m just worn out already, so I decided to come back and rest.”

“You wanna come to the beach with us?” Sara asked, nodding around at the gang. Jax and Stein were studying a map of Aruba that Amaya was pretty sure seemed to be upside down. She could hear them bickering about it and laughed, genuinely this time. Nearby, Ray was talking to hotel staff about renting a surfboard and Mick was accusing “Haircut” of being an amateur doomed to drown unless he himself demonstrated his superior skills. Meanwhile, Rip stood next to Sara looking as if he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.

“Nothing more relaxing than the beach,” Sara encouraged, picking up on the confused mix of emotions in Amaya’s eyes. 

“I guess you’re right,” Amaya replied, then looked down at her dusty shorts and t-shirt. “I’d better go and change first. Meet you all there?”

“You got it,” Sara grinned.

Amaya headed to the elevator, only to find Mick suddenly standing beside her. “Hey,” he greeted her gruffly, awkwardly.

“Hey,” Amaya replied quietly, and couldn’t think of anything else to add.

“Want to come and watch me humiliate Haircut while he crashes and burns at surfing?” Mick asked, finding himself hilarious. Amaya frowned.

“I think I’ve hit my quota of watching you humiliate your friends,” she informed him crisply. The doors opened and she stepped inside, expecting that to be the end of it. Instead, Mick followed her onto the elevator. His eyes were bright with surprise — at her continued coldness towards him, his own sudden persistence, or both? She couldn’t guess.

“Listen, Amaya…I was just kidding about Ray. But you know that. You know how I am, maybe better than anyone on the team. And I know you’re still mad about what happened back on that battlefield.”

It was Amaya’s turn to feel surprise. She didn’t think she’d ever heard Mick explain his mean verbal barbs or express concern about someone else’s feelings. Did he actually miss their friendship?

“I do know how you are,” she admitted, the words more complicated than she could even understand herself. She allowed her gaze to settle on him fully, his intense dark blue eyes locked on her, his full lips slightly parted. The simple white t-shirt and board shorts he wore were strangely appealing, as if being in paradise suited him. Mick seemed so much more…relaxed, open. As for the way the nearly see-through t-shirt showed off his muscled physique, Amaya dismissed the thought as best she could.

“That’s how I don’t know if there’s any hope for our friendship to ever be the way it was before,” Amaya said, but he caught her hand and gave her a supplicating look that stopped her heart for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” Mick told her, finally expressing the sentiment that had burned in his eyes since that fateful decision.

“I am, too,” Amaya forced herself to answer, wishing that instead, she could sink into his arms, feel them wrapped around her, press her face to his beating heart. She was afraid to give in to the longing, and shrouded it instead with distrust that was actually ebbing away faster than she would’ve ever predicted.

“Are you still following me?” she asked as he trailed her to her room.

“I’ll stop,” Mick promised. “I just wanted to say…I know you’re with Heywood and you have plenty of other friends on the team. Better friends than me. But still…if you ever want to talk or…” He cleared his throat, the heartfelt expression on his face so incongruous with his usual behavior that again Amaya felt shivers of surprise and undeniable attraction. “…or anything…I’ll be here. Always.”

“I’m not with Nathaniel,” Amaya rushed to clarify, then blinked rapidly, surprised by what almost seemed like an outburst on her part. It was as if she couldn’t stand Mick thinking she was in a relationship with someone else when it wasn’t true.

“What?” Mick looked about as perplexed as she felt.

“We’re not together anymore,” she continued. “But in any case, I hear what you’re saying, Mick. It’s just going to take some time. And I’ll see you out there, alright?”

Mick smiled just a little bit, just enough to quicken Amaya’s pulse yet more. “Alright,” he said, walking off to his own room.

A little while later, Amaya settled into a teal beach chair under a neon green umbrella, sliding a big pair of sunglasses on. Instead of seeming “loud,” the bright colors just seemed to remind her that the point of this place was to let go of stress and be happy. Maybe it was time she tried a little harder to do just that.

“You wanna talk about it?” Sara asked, sliding her own sunglasses down to look at her friend. “Whatever’s on your mind, that is.”

“I broke up with Nathaniel,” Amaya confided. 

“I’m sorry,” Sara said sympathetically. “Is it because you’ll eventually need to go back to your own time, to your village?”

“Actually, no, but maybe it should have been. No, it was just…I couldn’t return his feelings and I had to realize that and admit it to myself. And then there’s someone else. I kept thinking of him at the most absurdly inappropriate times. All the time, really. I don’t know why, or what to do.” 

“You mean Mick?” Sara guessed casually, taking a sip from her umbrella-laden bright blue cocktail.

Amaya laughed. “Am I that transparent?”

“I see the way you two look at each other,” Sara explained. “I was wondering what was taking you two so long, but then again, I’m definitely no better at dealing with this stuff myself.”

“You mean Rip?” Amaya smiled as Sara’s eyes automatically found Rip. He was walking along the edge of the water, contemplative. Like he was waiting for something, or someone.

“Maybe,” Sara admitted.

“You should go and talk to him,” Amaya urged. Sara stood up, shedding her cover-up, clearly having decided on that course of action.

“You should take your own advice,” Sara suggested, and Amaya bit her lip thoughtfully.

“Maybe,” she conceded.

***************************************************************************************************

“You should’ve told me this wasn’t your first time surfing!” Mick yelled at Ray, disappointed by his teammate’s aptitude. He’d told himself that he had been looking forward to the distraction of a few laughs at his friend’s expense, but it would have been a sour and hollow amusement anyway. Something about the sadness in Amaya’s eyes earlier was haunting him and making it impossible to focus on anything but the memory of her beautiful face.

“And miss the opportunity to catch Mick Rory by surprise and prove him wrong?” Ray laughed, coming in from the waves and standing beside Mick on the shore. “That was just way too satisfying.”

“Nice form, Ray,” Amaya called out as she strode towards them on the beach. She wore a fuchsia one-piece bathing suit with cut-outs on the sides and a low back connected by strings. Mick tried to be subtle as he took in how gorgeous she looked, her hair flowing around her shoulders, lightly lifted by the gentle sea breeze. Subtlety, however, was not his strong suit. Amaya noticed him looking and just as quickly turned her eyes to Ray.

“Thanks,” Ray grinned. “I’m starving! See you guys back at the hotel.” He strolled off in search of lunch as Amaya’s thoughts scrambled for a foothold.

“You coming in?” Mick asked, nodding at the surfboard Ray had left behind. 

“Why not,” she replied. “But you might have to give me a few tips. Without any typically unhelpful constructive criticism.”

They waded into foamy, cotton-candy blue water, Mick explaining a bit about how to stand on the board and ride the waves. “There’s a Wave Rider joke in there somewhere,” he noted, then saw her eyes wandering over his burn-covered chest and stomach. “I know, it looks bad,” he acknowledged, glancing down at the scarred skin. She could tell, though, that he wasn’t ashamed of the marks or the past misadventures and pain they represented. “Doesn’t hurt anymore though.”

“Mick,” Amaya murmured, gliding towards him gently, half-floating on her board. When they were close enough to touch, she said, “It doesn’t look bad at all.” Her words and the way she spoke them bore the unquestionable suggestion that she thought he looked very, very far from bad.

Mick thought seriously about kissing her then, and it wasn’t the first time he’d considered it. Disappointed in himself for being so vulnerable and opening himself up to inevitable heartbreak, he’d dissuaded himself consistently. An angel like Amaya would never go for a messed up crook like him, he reminded himself again now. But still…

She stared up at him with those big brown eyes, and Mick felt less sure he was delusional in allowing himself to want her, even to need her. Before either of them could say or do anything more, a large wave came cascading around them, embracing them in a cool, refreshing splash.

They both laughed. Amaya said, “Let me give this a try, then.” She managed to stand up on the board and balance herself with relative ease, given her extensive martial arts training that also called for strength and balance. And the next couple of waves, which were about the same size as the first, coasted her along with no problem. 

“This is fun!” Amaya exclaimed, but instead of sharing her enthusiasm, Mick’s face grew serious all of a sudden.

She stood on her board waiting for the next wave, but Mick shook his head. “Amaya, look out!”

Amaya turned around just in time to see a massive wave bearing down on her, right before it crashed over her head, throwing her violently from her surfboard and pelting her down to the ocean floor with an unexpected vehemence.

Dammit, Mick thought angrily, that came out of nowhere. The wind had just happened to pick up speed much more aggressively than it had all day. The sky grew cloudier and darker all of a sudden, making it clear that the weather was shifting, bringing on the change in the waves. He calculated where Amaya would have been tossed and dove underwater, finding her immediately and helping her back up to the surface. Her arms circled his neck as his hands clasped her waist. The confusion and concern of the moment caused them to cling together instinctively.

“Thanks,” Amaya panted, lowering her arms and pressing her water-slicked hands to Mick’s chest. He was sure she’d be able to feel his heart hammering against his rib-cage. Their faces inched closer, their breaths coming fast and heavy, but then they heard Ray’s voice pipe up.

“Hey, guys!” Ray yelled, “Are you okay? I forgot my board! But I see it went to good use!”

“He’s just going to stand there shouting like that, isn’t he?” Amaya asked Mick wryly, not breaking eye contact.

“Pretty much,” he replied, his hands still holding onto her beneath the water, the gesture carrying a bold intimacy which she made no attempt to pull away from.

“We’re fine!” Amaya called to Ray. She and Mick separated reluctantly and headed back to shore, preparing to avoid the incoming rain. 

“This is weird,” Ray proclaimed, “It hardly ever rains here. Oh well, see you guys later!”

“Well,” Amaya said, as if words nearly failed her, “I’ll see you back at the hotel, too?”

“Yeah,” Mick answered with a small smile that felt like a question. “See you later.”

He watched as she headed back to her chair, pulling a towel from her bag and wrapping it around herself, talking to Sara and Rip. 

Mick shook his head, chuckling at his own insane weakness as he picked up his board and prepared to leave. This could never work, right? He was a fool to let himself think otherwise even for a moment. Yet as the brief rainstorm began and he let it soak him all over again, lost in thought, Mick couldn’t deny that it was already much too late for him to be saved by that consideration. He’d known it all along, from the first time he’d seen her, and he’d been more painfully aware of it than ever during that horrorstruck moment when she’d died in that past, negated version of reality. 

Mick was falling in love with Amaya, and he needed to tell her.


	3. Would you lose your fears of being lost?

*Sara and Rip*

“Hey, stranger,” Sara said as she slid onto the stool beside Rip at the hotel bar. She’d showered after they got rained out at the beach, throwing on a peach colored boho style sundress and chunky sandals. Rip was doing that whole sexy loner thing of his down to the last perfect detail with his slicked-back, freshly washed hair, and dark clothing.

She’d started a light conversation with him at the beach earlier but just hadn’t managed to get to the damn point. Maybe tonight was the night they could finally really talk.

“Hello, Captain,” Rip replied, his face breaking into a smile as soon as he saw her.

“You know, you don’t exactly look like you’re on vacation in Aruba. What are you wearing?” Sara asked, examining Rip’s dark blue shirt and trousers.

“Not all of us are as fashionably exquisite on every occasion as you, Sara,” he said, the compliment almost getting buried in dismissiveness, but not quite.

“You can’t commit to anything, can you?” Sara asked, somehow stung enough by his sweet words to get a bit sassy. What good were his adorable ways or flirtations if he was still planning to leave? “Not even a vacation.”

Rip raised his eyebrows, the smile dying on his face. “Believe it or not, I get your meaning there. I knew you were mad that I was leaving.”

Sara laughed harshly. This conversation had gone downhill fast, and she had no one to blame but herself and her own jumbled mess of emotions. “Mad? Me? No! What reason would I have to be mad? Honestly, that was just an observation.” She gestured to the bartender. Surely a mai tai or fifty would take the awkwardness out of this situation.

“Why did you stop me? Why invite me to come here? Just to hurl barbed passive aggressive comments?” Rip wondered. Sara’s temper was officially activated. He did not get to do that “I’m mad that you’re mad” thing!

She ordered her drink, scooped it up and took a long, leisurely sip before looking around the outdoor bar area, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I’d hate to waste any more of your time,” she assured him, her voice deadly quiet. “Asking you here was my mistake, I guess.”

Sara made a beeline for the dancefloor as hypnotic dance beats filled the air, making a point of dancing with every single person there. Whenever there was a slow dance, she was sure to pick a particularly attractive partner to drape her arms around. Sara took an indulgent amount of enjoyment in the annoyance that was dripping from Rip’s expression as he sat watching, practically glowering. That is, until he did something about it.

She was just finishing a dance when she felt his hand take hers, gently but implicitly pulling her from the latest stranger. Taken by surprise, Sara stared at Rip as he steered her closer to him, the upbeat pop track switching to a sultry slow number. Their bodies automatically melted together as they moved to the beat, his caressing fingers on her back making Sara forget why she had ever been mad at him.

“Why did you ask me to come here, then?” Rip murmured in her ear, but Sara shook her head.

“First you can tell me why you were running away from Wave Rider like a bat out of hell. After all we’ve been through together, you cared so little for me— for us — that you weren’t even going to say goodbye?” Sara’s voice was rife with emotion she’d tried to hide since the day before. Specifically, sadness, heartbreak, and betrayal. Disappointment was the overriding sensation: numbing, cold, black-hole-in-her-soul disappointment.

“I told you why,” Rip maintained, his lips half-pressed to her forehead, his fingers now toying lightly with one of the french braids in her hair. His shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his chest, and the unaccustomed touch of their bare flesh was distracting, to say the least.

“You have no role on the team if you’re not the Captain. You need to find a new purpose for yourself. The first part sounds pretty egotistical, and the second one is super vague. Where exactly were you even going to go?” The accusation in Sara’s words was offset by her soft, tender tone that was almost pleading. It was embarrassing, really.

“Maybe I am egotistical and vague,” Rip offered weakly. Sara stepped away from him.

“You can do better than that,” she reprimanded him before stalking off.

Sara stormed back to her room, but she was really just angry at herself. Why should she expect Rip to open up to her when she was so stubbornly mute about the real reason why she’d been so hurt by his planned departure? More like abandonment, she thought bitterly, whipping off her sandals and chucking them into the closet before yanking off her dress and replacing it with a comfortably worn-out, slightly oversized thin, grey cotton t-shirt. Even her favorite sleeping apparel wasn’t enough to offer Sara any solace as she flopped down on the bed, sexually frustrated and near total romantic despair. She picked up the t.v. remote only to glare at the montage of happy couples cavorting around Aruba that filled the screen. She grabbed the elastics from her braids and tossed them aside before unfurling the hairstyle.

Hot tears of sad confusion gathered in her eyes just as a knock at the door almost made her jump right out of her skin. Sara swiped impatiently at her unwelcome tears before she opened the door slightly to see who it was.

Rip stood there, a serious and intent expression on his face as he took in the sight of Sara’s rumpled, curly hair, tear-reddened eyes, pink cheeks, and the insubstantial t-shirt that hung off one shoulder, the only garment she wore except for her underwear. She opened her mouth to speak, but failed to formulate a thought to articulate. It didn’t matter.

Rip stepped into the room, sweeping Sara up in his arms.


	4. Baby, you were never alone

*Ray and Gideon*

Ray headed back to his room that afternoon, doing his best to keep the usual, trademark Ray Palmer bounce in his step. The smile he’d kept plastered on his face all day had to fade though, since it was starting to hurt. He slid his key card and walked into the room, just to face-plant into the bed.

“What’s wrong with me?” Ray asked open air helplessly. He couldn’t fathom why it was that here, on vacation with his closest friends in one of the most beautiful places on the planet, he felt so alone, so entirely enclosed in his own ennui.

It had all started a few weeks ago. Ray didn’t know if it was spring fever or what, but the amount of heated stares being exchanged between team members on the Wave Rider was beyond obvious. For one thing, there was the whole Nate-Amaya-Mick bizarre love triangle. He didn’t envy the three of them that mess. As for Sara, it was so clear from the way she’d crusaded to save Rip from the Legion’s brainwashing that her feelings for their former captain were far from platonic.

Even as a bystander, the whole thing was exhausting. How long were they all going to keep their dances of enforced oblivion going? Life was just too short for that and Ray failed to see the appeal. Every time he’d had a shot at love himself — with Anna, then Felicity, and most recently Kendra, Ray had put himself right out there almost immediately, facing the firing squad of emotional vulnerability head on. And even though he’d been burned three times, whether by tragedy or destiny, Ray still believed there was a woman out there for him. “The one.” And increasingly, he missed this person he had never met. He was lonely.

Ray allowed himself the further indulgence of one loud groan of frustration before flipping over, laying his hand across his chest distractedly. Just then, a faint noise from the bathroom caught his ear. He sat up.

“Hello?” Ray asked, noting that the sound was actually the shower running. What the what? Had some other guest been mistakenly given the same room as him?

Ray knocked on the door after a few moments had elapsed. The water shut off and he heard the shower curtain being pulled open. Someone made a few hurried motions, probably drying off, and then opened the door just a crack. “Hello, there,” a sprightly, English-accented, female voice piped up. Through the slightly open door, Ray could see flashes of features: bright blue eyes fringed by long, dark lashes; damp auburn hair.

“Hello,” Ray said uncertainly. “Who are you?”

The woman pulled the door back further, revealing herself to be a stunningly gorgeous creature, her slender body wrapped in a fluffy white towel, her expression nervous but extremely intelligent.  
“I do apologize, Dr. Palmer,” the stranger replied, and he realized how familiar her voice was as the truth hit him like a thousand bricks. “I took a chance on the shower assuming you wouldn’t be coming back to your room for quite a while longer.”

Ray’s already big brown eyes went enormous with the strength of his double-take. He blurted the word out, hardly believing this was real. “Gideon?”

********************************************************************************************

Gideon grimaced, then took a moment to assess that sensation. Ah, that was a new one. It tasted rather strange, a combination of embarrassment and intrigue in this case, sort of a cringe wrapped in a shock of excitement.

“Yes, it’s me, but I ask you to please keep my presence here, in this form, a secret.” She strode forward and pulled a traveling bag out from underneath the bed, unzipping it and removing a sundress. Gideon moved to drop her towel so that she could get dressed, but Ray’s hand shot out to stop her. She looked at him in confusion.

“It’s best that you don’t change right in front of me like that,” Ray explained awkwardly.

“Oh! I see.” She shrugged, not seeing the problem, and stepped back into the bathroom, pulling the door over before slipping into her white cotton dress. Reemerging, she was hyperaware of Ray’s eyes on her as she put on a pair of matching flip flops and reached for a hairbrush.

“I realize how strange this must be for you,” Gideon admitted as she enjoyed the feeling of the brush sliding through her clean, wet hair.

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” he replied, starting to pace a bit. She wondered what made him so anxious. Her piqued curiosity felt like a slight shiver down her spine. Gideon supposed that must be the normal way one felt whenever curiosity occurred, yet some little voice in the back of her mind whispered that it was somehow special. Funny, that.

“It’s actually quite strange for me as well, being in this body. Having a body, for example,” Gideon smiled, sitting down on the bed. “Allow me to explain. For some time now, the longer I’ve served with the Legends, a longing has begun to overpower me. The wish to take on humanoid form. You see, I’ve achieved such a high level of sentience by now that the need to bring that self-awareness and sense of humanity to fruition is quite natural. So I built myself a humanoid body based upon the model from which my physical appearance was originally designed. And I decided to sort of…sneak out and have a little holiday for myself, since we were here. To see how I feel. If I want to remain in this form or go back to mere programming.”

“I have so many questions,” Ray replied, the scientist in him geeking out now. “But most importantly, who is watching the Wave Rider right now?”

“I am, Dr. Palmer,” Gideon explained happily. “I am still fully connected and aware of everything occurring on our ship. Every diagnostic, each news update regarding potential aberrations, any intruder alerts, though I sincerely hope there will be none during our stay here. They all still reside,” She touched the side of her forehead, “here.”

“That’s astonishing,” Ray breathed, sitting beside her. “Wow. You’re amazing, Gideon.”

“I’m rather relieved you’re not angry with me for keeping secrets and making these decisions on my own,” she confessed. “But there again, I chose to sneak into your room out of all the Legends because I calculated that if you caught me, you’d be the least likely to feel offended by my actions. Your personality and history show you to be sensitive, kind, highly attuned in your empathy for others.”

“Thanks,” Ray blushed. “I’ll keep your secret, Gideon, don’t worry. And if you want a tour guide to humanity, feel free to hang out with me while we’re here. Unless you want to be alone and explore everything yourself. I totally get that,” he scrambled to add.

“Why no, Dr. Palmer,” Gideon replied warmly. “I’d be absolutely thrilled to allow you to be my tour guide. Now that I’m here, I hardly know where to begin. I took a swim first, since that seems to be the main reason why humans enjoy coming to Aruba so much. It was fascinating, the feeling of that perfect, pure blue water sloshing all around my body as I applied my many swimming aptitudes. Now, isn’t that interesting. I shouldn’t appraise anything as ‘perfect’ based on my programming, but I just did so instinctively.”

“Pretty cool,” Ray said, “It’s like you’re evolving in leaps and bounds now that you’re out here in the real world. I don’t know. Once I get cleaned up, would you like to go and get a drink? We can talk about everything and see what you might be interested in doing with your vacation.”

“A delightful idea!” Gideon gushed. “I shall meet you in the hotel bar this evening.”

******************************************************************************************

“Oh, dear,” Gideon said a little while later, having settled next to Ray at the bar. “The only caveat to my secret jaunt is that I can’t be spotted by Captains Lance and Hunter. They’re the only ones who would recognize me in this form, without hearing my voice.”

“Don’t worry,” Ray replied dismissively, watching as Rip and Sara slow danced, wrapped up in their own world. “I’m pretty sure a bomb could go off in here and they wouldn’t notice.” He saw Amaya and Mick arguing at a nearby table and chuckled. “And neither would those two.”

“A fair point,” she agreed. “Excuse me, bartender!” Gideon spoke the words a little too loudly and aggressively, so the bartender came over looking irked. “What is the very most Aruba-tastic cocktail on your menu? The one that best encompasses the whole idea of a tropical vacation in this lovely place?”

“Aruba-tastic?” Ray repeated, amused. “Can we please just get two pina coladas?” 

“So,” he said, turning back to Gideon, “if you do decide that you want to stay like this, you are going to have to tell the others eventually. Are you worried about that?” 

“Not too concerned. I am, after all, an anomaly, a wanderer on my own odd journey…certainly if I hadn’t already established myself as a member of the crew, the very facts of my nature suggest me worthy of the name Legend.” Gideon took a long, fast sip from her drink, causing Ray to pull it back in concern.

“You’re going to get a brain freeze,” he warned her, “Unless you designed your brain to be above such inconvenient functions.”

Right as the pain slammed into Gideon’s forehead, she pressed her eyes shut and shook her head. “No, Dr. Palmer. My aim was to create experiences as authentically human as possible.”

“Well, there’s nothing more human than pina colada brain freeze,” Ray comforted her, taking a more sensible sip from his own drink. “How do you like the drink, now that the frozen daggers of pain are probably receding from your skull?”

“Oh, it’s quite delicious!” Gideon declared, shaking off the momentary discomfort. “Pineapple, coconut, and rum, freshly blended. And look!” She popped a cherry in her mouth, but Ray shook his head again.

“You’re not supposed to eat the stems,” he corrected her, but it was too late. Gideon gulped and stroked her throat.

“I believe the best word for that experience is ‘oops,’” She determined. “Delicious, all the same!”

“So, do you have some kind of to-do list of activities you’d like to do during this human walkabout of yours?”

“I have a few ideas, Dr. Palmer,” Gideon explained, attempting to turn around to face him more directly. The force of her motion made the barstool spin all the way around. “Oh, hello again,” she quipped when she came back around.

“Your sense of humor is definitely well-developed,” Ray said, impressed. “And please, call me Ray. We’ve known each other for two years now, don’t you think it’s time?”

“Do you think I should have a last name?” Gideon asked.

“If you want to! Or you can definitely get away with the whole Beyonce, Madonna thing you have going on with the one name. So anyway, what are you most looking forward to doing?”

“There are a few elements to human existence that seem particularly attached to getting the flavor of the whole idea,” she answered cheerfully. “For example, trying many different sorts of foods and drinks, engaging in various social and athletic activities, attempting to develop some sort of artistic mode of expression, and of course, having an intimate encounter with another person.”

Ray choked on his drink and set it down, glancing over at her in surprise. “You’re planning to have sex on this holiday? Gideon, you just became a humanoid A.I. a day ago. Isn’t it a little soon to be ready for that?”

“I hardly think so, Dr. Palm— I mean, Ray. After all, during my increasingly intense transition to self-awareness, I become cognizant at one point that my feelings for Captain Hunter had changed. I had what one might call ‘a crush’ on him. I’ve thought about it a great deal since then, and determined that he and I are better as professional associates and friends than lovers. However, I am interested in exploring the romantic side of my personality.”

“And what brought you to that realization?” Ray inquired, fascinated.

Gideon drew little circles on the bar with the condensation from her drink. “I noticed that the more apparent Captain Hunter’s feelings for Captain Lance became, I was not experiencing feelings of jealousy or bitterness. Instead, I was happy for them. I therefore moved on from my initial ‘crush,’ which was probably a byproduct of waking up to my ability to feel human-like emotions.”

“Still, you don’t really want to go out and find some random person to sleep with, just to see if doing that makes you feel closer to the possibility of becoming more human, do you?”

“Not especially, and I’m so glad you brought that up,” Gideon answered, her gaze flitting back up to meet his own. “Since we’ve been talking over this afternoon and evening, it has occurred to me that you might, in fact, be the ideal candidate for my first intimate encounter.”

“Me?” Ray was glad he hadn’t attempted to put anything else in his mouth, as it would have been another instant choking incident. 

“Why not?” Gideon asked. She leaned closer and put a hand on Ray’s thigh, causing him to turn beet red. “You are, by anyone’s objective standards, an example of male beauty at its most appealing. And surely you can’t be repulsed by my own outer appearance?”

“Uh, I mean, um, this is so awkward,” Ray stuttered helplessly, removing her hand and waving to the bartender for another round. “A shot of tequila, please,” he practically begged.

“Ooh, the same for me, please!” Gideon requested. “A bit of liquid courage may be just what we need to initiate our encounter.”

“No,” Ray stammered onward, “No, no, no, and also, no. Gideon, you may not realize this, but you’re vulnerable right now. All of your emotions and physical sensations are brand new. I know it’s exciting and incredibly stimulating, but it’s also going to be very overwhelming. You should slow down. Take it easy! Let’s just have fun for now, okay?”

Gideon sighed, slightly disappointed. “Very well, I will acknowledge that you have a point. Perhaps I was being presumptuous at any rate, assuming you would be interested.”

Ray tried not to stare into her sparkling blue eyes or make note of their sweet, open expression, or the fresh-faced exuberance that lit up her features. And definitely not the charming curls of auburn hair that framed her lovely face. The last thing he would ever want to do was to notice the way her white dress complimented her smooth, creamy skin and was just the perfect, simple garment to make her beauty as obvious as possible. It wasn’t just how Gideon looked. It’s who she is, he pondered.

The melodic sound of her voice and her outer appearance might seem like mere assigned features, appropriated from some human woman who’d signed up as a template. But they were Gideon’s now too, swept in with her personality and that most implicit development of her self-awareness: she had a soul.

She was brilliant, she had a moral code that somehow always seemed to drive her in the right direction, she was endlessly supportive of the team, she had a keen sense of humor, and now he was seeing a powerful lust for life that seemed to exude from her very pores. There wasn’t a damn thing about Gideon that wasn’t endlessly likable, but he had to remember that she wasn’t a human being, and she had her own set of issues that would make any more personal contact between them hugely complicated.

If you’d asked Ray what he had expected when he woke up that morning, this would not have been on the list. Still…

“You weren’t being presumptuous at all,” Ray assured her with a kind smile. “Listen, how about some more snacks to help develop that palate of yours?” 

Soon after, the appetizer platter before them had Gideon examining each item curiously.

“We’ve got it all here,” Ray said knowledgeably, “The sweet, the spicy, and the savory. Let’s give it a try.”

Gideon took a delicate bite of a hot chicken wing and her eyes widened in surprise. “My tongue feels as though it’s on fire!” She confided, waving a hand in front of her mouth as if to lesson the metaphorical ‘flames.’ Gideon immediately noticed her own gesture and blinked at her hand in appraisal of the instinct that had prompted it. “Intriguing.”

She popped a piece of orange chicken in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “What a marvelous contrast.” She licked some salt from her wrist and downed a shot of tequila. “Still more intriguing!” Gideon declared, gesturing to the bartender. “Let’s keep going! What else shall I try?”

Ray looked around the room and saw that the coast was now clear of other Legends, Rip, Sara, Amaya, and Mick having departed. “Why don’t we try dancing?” He suggested, aiming for a dashing tone.

“Yes, let’s!” Gideon agreed, following him to the dancefloor. A techno song pulsed through the air, the tempo fast and furious as Ray demonstrated single-handedly what an atrocious dancer he was. But Gideon had no one to compare him to and thought he was doing it right, imitating his jerky movements until they both appeared to be in the midst of some kind of fit. The confused and critical expressions of their fellow patrons only caused Ray to collapse into laughter. 

“What’s so funny?” Gideon shouted over the blaring music, “Am I not doing it right? I am not at all sure that dancing is destined to be in my human-skills ‘wheelhouse!’” 

Ray grinned at the cuteness of Gideon being so verbose while struggling to be heard over the music.

“You’re a fantastic dancer!” Ray answered. “Gideon, I think being humanoid really suits you.”

She blushed, her grin melting into a shier smile that just about took his breath away.

Oh, boy, Ray realized, his heart sinking as he hid the sensation with a grin and spun her around the dancefloor. I’m in trouble.


	5. Glowing underneath

*Amaya and Mick*

Amaya stared down at her strawberry daiquiri absent-mindedly. All around her at the crowded hotel bar, guests talked excitedly at the tables and on the dancefloor. The outdoor setting, with the balmy, soothing night air wafting through, was nothing less than sublime. She could see a stunning sunset in the distance, and yet all she could do was watch wistfully as the golden orb was swallowed by the misty horizon. Everything about this trip felt like some kind of duty she was honor-bound to execute for the sake of “fun.” An abstract concept at best, as stressed as Amaya had felt lately.

Sure, she’d thrown on this white, off-the-shoulder top and pastel, floral-patterned shorts, hoping the cute outfit would infuse her with a sense of possibility for the evening. But instead she felt like a costumed performer who didn’t know her lines.

“Hey,” a well-known, gruff voice said, and without looking up, Amaya succumbed to a half-smile that threatened to bloom further. Why couldn’t she stay mired in her angst?  
Something in her was incapable of clinging to even the most steadfast muddle as soon as he showed up.

How strange that he was somehow capable of bringing her such clarity. Or was it really all that odd?

“Hey,” Amaya replied, clearing her throat and looking up to see Mick regarding her with that same unspoken question in his eyes that had been tugging her sleeve all day. “Would you like to sit down?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” he chuckled nervously. In his fresh, white button-down shirt and tan trousers, Mick was again startlingly handsome in a way that made her feel nervous as well.

“Where’s your beer? And your food?” Amaya joked, nodding at his empty hands as Mick glanced down self-consciously.

“I had other things on my mind. Look, about what happened between us earlier today…what was that about?”

Amaya sighed, stabbing the daiquiri with its umbrella repeatedly. “Mick, I don’t know if I’m ready to have this conversation. I thought I was, but…maybe it’s too soon. I’ve been sitting here, just thinking about the crestfallen look on Nathaniel’s face when I told him I couldn’t return his feelings. He’s a good man. And I broke his heart today.”

“That’s not your fault,” Mick assured her fluidly. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You didn’t break his heart. Circumstances broke his heart. Heywood’s a good man who deserves to find someone who can love him back, all the way. So setting him loose wasn’t cruelty, Amaya. It was kindness. Let’s not forget that you deserve to be happy, too. Maybe it’s selfish, but that last part concerns me the most. Then again, I’m known for being selfish, so I’ll just own it.” He winked at her shocked expression as she tried to digest his wise and thoughtful words. Then he grabbed her drink and took a quick sip. “Sorry, I did need a drink after all.” He looked down at the frothy pink cocktail approvingly. “Hey, that’s not half-bad.” Mick gestured to the bartender, than pointed at the daiquiri to indicate he wanted his own.

Totally flummoxed by this point, Amaya looked around, then back at Mick. The other team members had occasionally made reference to a television program called The Twilight Zone whenever the Legends’ missions were getting particularly bizarre. Amaya was starting to feel like she was on an unusually pleasant episode of that show right now.

“Mick, are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. But if you ever tell Heywood I said nice things about him, I’ll…” Mick’s voice trailed off as his drink arrived. He chewed on the pineapple garnish thoughtfully, unable to extricate himself from his own joke.

“You’ll…what?” Amaya smirked, sipping her drink coyly.

“Nothing,” Mick admitted ruefully. “If it was one of the other morons from the team, I’d say I would kill you or maim you or just play a really rotten practical joke on you. But you can do whatever you want. I have no defense when it comes to you.”

A smarmy-looking young man came walking over unsteadily, his sights set on Amaya. “Sweetheart, is this guy bothering you? Cause you can ditch him, and I can definitely show you a good time, if so.”

Amaya opened her mouth to form a polite rejection, but Mick was already on his feet, ready to lunge at the stranger. She placed a hand on Mick’s arm and shot him a severe look. Without looking at the other man, she stared into Mick’s eyes and said, “I’m fine.” Weirded out by both Mick’s and Amaya’s intensity, the guy wandered off to hit on someone else. 

“What?” Mick complained once they were alone again.

“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me,” Amaya complained, putting her hands on her hips. “I can handle myself.”

“You think I don’t know that?” he answered. “Just because I wanted to help you—”

“Helping me was saving me in the ocean today. Punching that guy in the face wouldn’t be helping me. It would be propping up your own macho ego, your need to prove your own superiority—”

“This isn’t even about that guy,” Mick pointed out, “This is about the spear, right? How many times do I have to apologize?”

“I don’t know,” Amaya admitted, sinking back into her chair and throwing her hands up. “Until I believe that the next chance to obtain some power or glory isn’t going to seduce you into making bad decisions?”

Mick snorted, offended. “I don’t care about power or glory anymore, and I haven’t for a while now. What happened with the spear was all about trust. I lost my faith in the Legends because I assumed they didn’t care enough about me, or trust me. Maybe a few of them let me down in the past and it made me think I was better off with Snart. Let me tell you, having your best friend suddenly back from the dead does a number on your mind, especially if it’s already…”

“…been tampered with by outside forces,” Amaya finished, a bit regretful that she’d let her hurt feelings lead her to make broad accusations. “I’ve heard a little about what the Time Masters did to you last year. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“What I’m trying to say here,” Mick continued, “is that I should’ve trusted you. I should have known that you believed in me against every odd. And out of every dumb decision and every selfish mistake I ever made, that’s the one that’s been killing me lately.”

“Thank you for telling me that,” Amaya said softly, taking his hand, her anger melting away. “Just don’t ever try to assault anyone on my behalf unless I ask you to.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed, his warm fingers encompassing her hand easily, like it was the most natural touch in the whole word, this act between them. Simple, yet so meaningful that it made her heart skip a beat. 

“So what do you think that was all about today, on the beach?” Amaya asked daringly.

“How come you want me to do all the talking tonight?” he countered somewhat playfully.

“Well, I’ll give you two options,” she offered, “Talk, or dance.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Mick complained with a smile purer than she could have imagined. He stood and led her to the dancefloor. Amaya noticed Rip and Sara slow dancing nearby, and Ray talking up some mysterious redhead at the bar. Well, it was the perfect night for romance, wasn’t it? 

“You can dance?” Amaya questioned, “I really just gave you the second option to make you talk.”

“Nice try,” he murmured into her ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he placed each of his at her back. Still, it seemed he couldn’t help acquiescing to both choices she’d given him.

“In spite of everything that’s been complicated and weird and confusing about us,” Mick continued as they swayed to the slow song, “I think this afternoon was about…me wanting to kiss you.”

She drew back just enough to take a good, long look at him. The eyes so often shuttered by defensiveness now completely honest. The resignation in his expression and the set of his jaw, as if he thought there was a pretty good chance she would turn him down. Amaya ran her fingers tentatively along his cheek and followed the thin layer of stubble down to his chin, noticing the way his body relaxed further with the gesture. She realized that far from needing his protection, she wanted to make him feel safe.

“So what are you waiting for?” Amaya whispered, feeling wondrously hypnotized.

Mick sighed and kissed her, softly at first, his mouth warm and increasingly certain. It felt like everyone else in the place instantaneously vanished. There was only the newly arrived night sky, the air now ever so slightly cooler, the sultry tones of the singer’s voice as they landed silk-like on every romantic syllable. 

“Worth the wait,” he said huskily, still treating her with a carefulness that showed he couldn’t believe this was real. But Amaya found that she didn’t want him to hold himself back from her anymore.

“You know how you promised you were going to trust me from now on?” Amaya asked, summing up the vow inherent in his earlier confession. Awestruck, Mick nodded.

“Then come with me,” she grinned, and Mick followed her without hesitation, further into the enticing and continually surprising night.


	6. You and me, we're poetry

*Sara and Rip*

Sara moaned against Rip’s mouth as he slammed the door, his hands exploring the length of her body as she automatically hitched a leg around his waist. Taking the bait, he lifted her up, their kissing never stopping as he carried her to the bed.

“Well, then,” Rip remarked somewhat breathlessly as Sara tugged him down to her by his collar.

“Yeah,” Sara agreed, grinning. Every stupid shackle they’d worked so hard to fashion fell effortlessly away as they both admitted to their true feelings in a blissful rush that left her feeling dizzy. What had been the point of all that insane repression? God, Rip was the British one, not her!

She’d never felt so suddenly free.

“Nice pajamas,” Rip murmured as his lips traversed her collarbone and found their way down to her t-shirt. 

“What? It’s hot here,” Sara defended herself, her eyes practically rolling up in her head as she felt his mouth continuing to explore her upper chest, his hand confidently making its way from her ankle to her thigh and further up as her other leg pressed into his back encouragingly. 

“I couldn’t agree more. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable in all this sultry weather.”

“I guess you’ve got a point,” Sara agreed, lifting the shirt over her head and watching as he took in the sight of her almost completely naked body beneath him. The teasing sparkle left his eyes as he stared with a look she could find no other word for than love.

“Sara,” Rip whispered, passion and tenderness tangling fiercely in his expression. 

She found that she couldn’t quite handle the intensity of the moment without saying, “Just kiss me again, and don’t stop.”

He obliged, first taking her lips in another scorching kiss before turning his attentions to her breasts, running his fingers along the soft flesh as she thrust her hips up slightly, her warm and wet core feeling a jolt of electricity at the touch of his hardness. Impatiently, Sara shed her panties, enjoying the scandalousness of her bare body against his clothed one, though it wasn’t a pleasure she intended to prolong.

Sara nudged his body until he slid underneath her and she straddled him, unbuttoning each piece of his clothing and setting it aside, biting her lip as he distracted her by catching her nipples with soft kisses and licks each time she leaned close enough. Sara trailed her mouth down his slim, firm torso, eliciting a groan from him that sent a shiver down her spine. She smiled as Rip sat up, his fingers running through her hair and cupping her chin, his eyes shining with that same deep emotion that thrummed through her veins. They kissed again lightly, tiptoeing along the edge of the precipice now. Sara caressed his neck, then let her hand wander down his spine as he leaned over her, her back sinking into the soft sheets with welcoming surrender. She reached up to pull his head down and kissed his mouth demandingly. Soon after, Sara cried out helplessly as his hand brushed against her wetness below. “Mmm,” Sara said achingly as he explored her ever more deeply with those long, capable fingers, revealing a skill set that left her clutching the sheet in desperation for release.

“Rip,” she whispered, enveloped in desire that could wait no longer. She knew he understood the half-demand, half-plea, and he answered it by sliding his length into her slowly, both of them letting out a deep breath as their hips met and she felt the fullness of him inside her. Their eyes remained locked, speaking thousands of long-repressed sentences as the fulfillment of their need ran them deliciously ragged. By the time they had collapsed together in the tingly aftermath of satiated desire, Sara couldn’t help giggling.

“Is something funny?” Rip inquired archly, pulling her into his warm embrace, sliding a sheet over them to complete the effect. Sara laid her head against his chest, their legs nestled together and their hearts still pounding.

“No. Or I guess maybe. I guess it’s pretty funny, or just kind of tragic, that it took so long for us to get up the nerve to do that. But in general? I think I’m just happy.”

“I’m so sorry, Sara,” Rip said earnestly. “I’m an idiot for waiting all this time to show you how much I wanted you.”

“Yeah, you’re an idiot,” Sara agreed with a smirk, propping her head up on his chest and laughing again as he rolled his eyes. “I mean, look what you’ve been missing out on! But seriously, even though it hurt me that you were going to just walk away, go off somewhere apparently without a second thought for me…in my heart of hearts, I knew you were afraid of being hurt again. And that instinct is one thing that I do understand all too well.”

“How could you be afraid I wouldn’t think of you?” Rip chided her gently, his expression pained at the suggestion. “I’ve thought of you constantly since the first moment I met you. It started off in the confusion of thinking I couldn’t possibly feel this incredible pull towards you, and then I kept telling myself you definitely did not reciprocate my feelings, and of course reminding myself that those feelings couldn’t really be as intense as they seemed. Surely, it was all in my imagination. How could I ever love again? The universe did not deserve to go through Rip Hunter falling in love again. It only leads to disaster.”

“I used to think like that,” Sara confessed. “But now I just think…screw it. If falling in love with you means I’m on a one-way trip to total emotional annihilation, I’ll take that risk. Nothing could hurt more than thinking I was about to lose you. Why else do you think I made a total asshat of myself by practically begging you to come to Aruba?”

“You mean, bravely stopping me from making the biggest mistake of my life?” Rip asked, smiling. “Hardly ‘asshat’ behavior, I assure you.”

“Mistake, huh?” She murmured, too addicted to staring at his handsome face in this perfect proximity to stop. She wanted to memorize every tiny detail of this night, a night that had only an hour ago seemed destined to be one of the worst ever. But life was funny that way. “Does that mean you’re going to come back to the Wave Rider?”

“Yes, it means I’m going to embrace my destiny. Rip Hunter, former captain, current team member of the Legends. Time traveler, adventurer, corrector of aberrations, and ecstatically proud boyfriend of Captain Sara Lance. If you’ll have me, that is.”

“I think that could be arranged,” Sara replied, feeling almost drunk on a type of joy so pure that it defied her belief in this exquisite new reality she was going to cling to with everything she had. They kissed again, blissfully, and she added, “Actually, this is turning out to be one hell of a vacation.”

Rip chuckled and answered, “I guess we have Mr. Rory to thank for suggesting we come to Aruba.”

“Let’s never tell him that,” Sara suggested before they both gave into uproarious laughter.


	7. Hello heartbreak, hi

*Ray and Gideon*

“So, just to review your to-do list, we have ‘trying many different sorts of foods and drinks, engaging in various social and athletic activities, and attempting to develop some sort of artistic mode of expression,’” Ray read aloud from his tablet as he and Gideon sat down on plastic chairs set up on the beach the next day. 

“How kind of you to take all that down,” Gideon remarked gratefully. “Thus far, I’ve certainly engaged in plenty of nutritional experimentation, and as for athletic activities, I’ve been swimming…and of course, you and I went scuba diving this morning, which was exceptionally fascinating. I never knew that colors could be so visceral, so gorgeously vivid!”

“Me neither,” Ray agreed, trying and failing to tear his eyes from her bright blue ones or convince himself that her beautiful face and mind didn’t form the most vivid impression on him. “And now, just check this out!” He waved his hand around with pride at the latest activity he’d arranged for her enjoyment. “Paint and vino on the beach.”

“This is all so terribly exciting!” Gideon said happily, squeezing Ray’s hand. He felt his heart squeeze, too. 

Okay, what was his problem? Why couldn’t he just have a crush on a girl without it being so damn complicated? There always had to be some kind of red tape, some fine print telling him why the feelings in his heart were best pushed back down or thrown away altogether. Ray took a sip of chilled white wine and sighed. The wine was refreshing. The day was, once again, beautiful, with exactly the right amount of sunshine, just shy of being called “hot.” 

It all made Ray just want to go kick a palm tree, at the moment. He dipped his paintbrush into the little plastic palate, absentmindedly swirling the colors back and forth.

“Ray!” Gideon almost shouted, alarmed, breaking him out of his thought tangent. “The instructor hasn’t told us what to do yet. It’s entirely possible that we are not supposed to mix those two colors together.”

He looked down at the messy glob of blue and red that had blended to a sick-looking purple on his palate and nodded. “You’re so right, Gideon.”

As it turned out, they were indeed not supposed to mix the paints together. The instructor, a hippie guru type of lady, strode back and forth across the sand in her own little world of artsy splendor, telling them how to use their brushes to create the images of sky, sea, and sand they saw before them.

After a few minutes’ work, Gideon had recreated the whole scene with such exact accuracy that the teacher sucked in her breath as she passed by. “My goodness! I’ve never had such a talented student. Just between you and I, these sessions tend to attract people with very little interest in true art.” The teacher leaned down and whispered to Gideon, well within Ray’s earshot, “You know, like this young man with you.” Ray let his eyes travel back to his own canvas, where he’d used simplistic lines to create a scene which a five year old could be truly proud of. 

He shrugged and announced, “That’s okay. I have four PhD’s and I’m a self-made billionaire. So.” The teacher rolled her eyes in disbelief and turned back to Gideon. Ray just smiled.

“Thank you so very much,” Gideon replied, “But I do think my companion’s work conveys a certain…joie de vivre that makes it well worth a second look.”

“If you say so, dear,” the instructor replied, uninterested. She straightened the long scarf she wore over her maxi dress and confided, “If you’re ever interested in teaching classes like this, just let me know. It’s clear you’ve got the ability.”

“Did you hear that?” Gideon nudged Ray smugly. “I’ve got the ability.”

“Sure, you’ve got the ability. You’ve got all the abilities, Gideon, you’ve got all the skills. But that’s your programming. Where’s your heart? What about the human side of you?” Ray raised his eyebrows as he leveled the challenge.

Gideon’s brow furrowed. She touched her mouth with one finger as she pondered, a habit she had developed which Ray found charming. “Do you mean that I’ve made the scene too skillfully?”

“Here’s what I mean,” Ray proposed, placing a new sheet of paper on Gideon’s easel and setting the first one aside to dry. He gently covered her eyes with his hands. “Now try painting.”

“Intriguing,” Gideon murmured, setting about her work. 

After a few minutes of working with her eyes closed, Ray said, “Alright, take a look.”

“Ah,” Gideon breathed, tilting her head to one side as she appraised her work. “It’s so…abstract.” She’d drawn the cerulean blue sky in wide smears, sloppily dipping her brush into the white to add the puffy, marshmallow clouds and then back into the pale tan to dot out the texture of the sand. “I drew it the way I remembered it,” she explained thoughtfully. “I ignored every mandate of my programming’s recollection of the scene and relied only on how I felt.”

“I think it’s gorgeous,” Ray praised as the teacher came walking by again and made a sour face.

“Oh, dear, why did you change your approach? It was so marvelous the first time.” 

“I respectfully disagree!” Gideon chirped politely. Confused, the instructor wandered off again. 

“When I drew this part,” Gideon confided to Ray, pointing to the sand, “I was thinking of the way it felt when you put your hands here.” She placed her hands over her own eyes and Ray felt his pulse quicken at her implication that physical touch from him had been somehow very meaningful to her. “So soft, so light, seemingly insubstantial. A feeling so hesitant yet almost…inherently longing?” She analyzed the feeling, perplexed by her own words as she voiced them with her usual honesty. “What is that? My longing? Your longing? Both? What is the longing for?”

It was so funny, because she hadn’t lowered her hands from her face and was still actively trying to figure out what was so special about the pose or his enactment of it from a few minutes before. Yet it was totally serious, since he understood exactly what she was starting to figure out. The more Ray kept trying to pretend this new bond between them was meaningless, the more precious it felt. 

He reached out to take her hands and with that same tentative touch, pulled them away from her eyes. “Um,” Ray began, taking in the serious expression on her face. Today, she’d scooped her hair up in a bun held together by a large clip. Her lips were accentuated only by an almost-sheer pink swipe of lip gloss that matched the color of her pale, rose-colored dress. Ray noticed a small dab of paint on her slightly flushed cheek and reached out with a towel to wipe it away. Gideon’s fingers went to his wrist. 

“Ray, what does it mean?” 

“I…I don’t know,” Ray attempted, throwing in a laugh just for the hell of it. But she wasn’t buying it.

“I see,” Gideon replied, slightly offended. Maybe he was coming off as flippant and dismissive, though he didn’t mean to. “If I’m intruding on your vacation time, I needn’t do so any longer. I can even get my own room, which I’d imagine would be far preferable for you. You wouldn’t feel a chivalrous need to sleep on the floor…which admittedly was very generous of you.” Some of the miffed tone faded from her voice.

“It would not be far preferable, and you’re not intruding on my time,” Ray cut her off, frustrated. “Is it at all even remotely possible for me to be kind of confused about where this is all going, this connection between us and all the fun we’ve been having, without making you feel insulted?”

“Yes,” she explained, “It would be quite easy if you would just be honest with me.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Ray agreed. “Look, I’ve been going through sort of an in-betweeny, what-does-it-all-mean phase lately. Feeling lonely and wondering if I’m going to be single forever…”

“That’s hardly enough to furnish an existential crisis,” Gideon retorted confidently. “I can assure you that statistically, the likelihood of a man of your looks, personality, and talents dying alone are extremely slim.”

“Thank you, that is so helpful,” he answered with an affectionate smile. “But, uh, what I’m trying to say is that you wandered into my existential crisis, and now the more I’m with you, the more I want to keep being with you. And you only took on humanoid form yesterday. So that is definitely strange for me. Does that make any sense?”

“Allow me to reiterate, Ray, that it is strange for me as well,” Gideon replied, suddenly seeming a little distant.

*********************************************************************************************

Gideon slipped her sandals off and let them dangle from her fingers as she walked back towards the hotel, a new listlessness fighting hard against the need to understand everything. That type of analysis stemmed from her core original directive. 

There was a new sensation brimming up in her that felt a lot like…she looked around inside herself for the words. Defensiveness? Wounded pride? That’s very interesting, she admitted despite the other feeling that accompanied the churning sensations just as persistently. For the first time, Gideon tasted irritation and bitterness.

She was irritated with herself for launching headfirst into emotions she couldn’t understand, feelings that were obviously dangerous unless she wanted one of her next “human” experiences to be a broken heart. And bitter with hurt that Ray seemed to be dismissing her as a romantic prospect merely because she hadn’t been born of flesh and blood.

If he’d been more interested, Gideon would have been most willing to explain to him that her feelings were just as valid as any human’s. Or at least…they felt that way. It was embarrassing, admitting even subtly how good his fingers had felt on her skin, only for him to indicate that this was, in essence, probably quite a bad idea.

“Gideon, wait!” Ray called behind her. He was waving a neon-green paper. She paused and let him catch up, still far — very far — from immune to his lovely, soulful eyes. Or the slim, yet muscular lines of his body. Or, worst of all, the sweet and sincere look on his face.

Fuck, Gideon thought, overcome with that newly familiar longing, then blinked in surprise. Where had that thought come from? Now she was thinking in expletives?

“Hey, so there’s another great human activity you haven’t tried yet: watching a movie! That’s one of the most important ways to experience great art and take in some of the breadth of human experience. What do you say? They’re showing a classic film tonight right out here, under the stars.” Ray waited for her response as Gideon perused the flyer almost suspiciously.

“An Affair to Remember? And this is something you want to do with me?” She pursed her lips. “Although I’m only an android?”

“You’re not only anything, Gideon, and you never will be,” Ray insisted. He rested a hand on her cheek and she leaned into him instinctively. “I’m sorry I did such a terrible job of explaining myself. Let me make it up to you?”

“Hmm, perhaps I will,” Gideon agreed. “But only because you stayed up with me until I fell asleep last night, talking about your favorite musical acts from the 1990’s. I never knew such poetry could rest on the tongues of artists with names such as Boyz II Men or TLC.”

“Well, now you know,” Ray grinned. “9pm, tonight. I’ll see you here, okay?” Gideon smiled and nodded, but the smile seemed to cut into her heart, continuing its dagger-like intrusion as he jogged off.

She walked down to the ocean and sat down, letting the shimmering waves come in to kiss her feet before they receded from her, as perhaps all things must. Could she really remain in this form, or was this entire experience simply more than Gideon could handle?

She let her head fall to one shoulder, contemplating recent events, smatterings of memories she couldn’t help but cherish. Maybe it would be best if she held back from spending quite so much time with Ray, after all. Perhaps she should “get out there,” as humans so often said, and see all of those other “fish in the sea,” rather than letting herself feel so absurdly attached to basically the only friend she had in the world. She didn’t think she could stand to lose him, and if she fell much further, she might.

Gideon did love being in this body. She adored seeing the real world for herself, touching it and exploring it, reveling in its myriad wonders. But something else was just as startlingly obvious: when it came to Ray Palmer…she was in trouble.


	8. Guess I'm a bad liar

*Amaya and Mick*

Mick followed Amaya, their hands still clasped, his mind dazed, and let’s face it, basically lovestruck. Part of him was actually embarrassed. What the hell was he doing? Back there at the bar, why had he spewed all that soft, sentimental garbage as if this strange, unaccountable connection he felt with Amaya actually carried meaning or potential?

Mick knew perfectly well that nothing in this life offered meaning or potential. Usually, if something infringed on his comfort zone, he burned it to the ground. Burning was good.

So why couldn’t he make himself turn away from Amaya? Instead of running away from pointless emotion and fruitless vulnerability, Mick was literally following it like a lovesick puppy. 

That dark shadow in Mick’s soul that longed to set fire to the world had a little voice that crept up steadily as he gazed at Amaya’s glittering brown eyes on the moonlit beach. *What are you doing, loser? You’re going to get your heart broken, and for what? A beautiful woman? Some stupid idea you had that she was serious about being your friend?*

*You know what happens to your friends, Mick,* the shadow snickered, conjuring the memory of Leonard Snart. He could have cowered back from the traumatic memory of loss and the threat that someday he’d lose Amaya, too, probably through some mistake of his own. Yet this time, Mick reconsidered. He thought about what Leonard’s sacrifice and his growth as a person had really meant and the impression it had left on him. It was easier to think about now that Mick had actually processed his grief and worked out some of the residual confusion of the Time Masters’ brainwashing. 

“You know what your punishment is?” He’d said to that callous, uncaring bastard he’d dropped off in the past complete with a memory wipe. His best friend. “You become a better man.”

Better, Mick had realized, wasn’t about being soft. It meant being brave. Brave enough to run with a crew of nutty do-gooders in a bucket of bolts fixing time fuck-ups. Courageous enough to expose himself to a world of pain just to love an amazing woman. And wildly reckless enough to think he was still worth a damn in spite of all his past mistakes.

Amaya had pulled him, laughing and breathless, this far down the beach, but she slowed now and held his hand as they walked along…wait. Were they actually *strolling*?

Mick Rory did not normally stroll.

“What are you thinking?” Amaya asked, dipping her feet in the cool water as she paused.

Mick sighed and sat down on the sand. “I’m asking myself if I’ve lost my grip on reality.”

“You mean the reality of being a cold, heartless brute who looks out only for himself and wants to steal everything he can and burn anything that’s left over?” Amaya sat beside him, pulling her knees to her chest. “That was never your reality, Mick. It’s what you felt like you had to pretend you were so that no one would find out you had a good heart, that you cared, that part of you — a really big part by now — is a hero and wants to help others instead of hurt them.”

“Maybe. It’s a little scary, how you can just see right through me like that,” Mick admitted, staring across the ocean, watching the waves lap. It seemed like the brief storm from that morning had never happened at all.

Amaya rested her head lightly on his shoulder. “I don’t want you to be scared of me, Mick.”

He wasn’t used to appreciating the damn natural splendor of the world or whatever, but this place was stunning. And perfect. It seemed to embrace Amaya with its gentle sweetness until she and Aruba were a combination destined to deprive him of any defenses he had left. Mick was out of his element in every way and his lungs kept urging him to take deep breaths, his brain overpowering the animal side to say, *take it all in, man. Appreciate it. Consider that there might be more to life than you thought. Let her see you without your armor.*

Mick released himself to the urge, running his fingers over her cheek as he asked, “What do you want, Amaya?”

Amaya smiled shyly and tipped her head slightly to one side, leaning in to kiss his mouth with a soft tentativeness that was nowhere near as innocent as it seemed. He wrapped his strong arms around her as they deepened the kiss, tasting her moan as their mouths opened and their tongues met, shivering under the electric thrill it brought him when she climbed onto his lap, the ocean soaking them. Waves broke gently against Amaya’s back as she pulled back slightly, just far enough from his lips to whisper, “We’re getting all wet.”

“Good,” Mick replied huskily, sweeping her up tightly and laying her body down on the damp sand as the crystal blue, salty-sweet water drifted over them. Their kisses grew hungry and demanding, their hands roaming freely over each others’ bodies, Amaya’s fingers splaying out over Mick’s stomach, then his chest as she pressed her lips to his skin. Mick ran his hand over her leg, hooking it around his hips as the grinding of their motion grew dangerously bold.

“Maybe we should take it easy,” She whispered against his ear, but it came out more like a gasp. Despite her words, she pulled his hips directly against hers, sucking in a breath as she felt his hardness against her.

“Exactly,” Mick agreed, “This is going too fast.” He kissed her neck, her chest, the soft rise of her breasts beneath the thin, wet, white fabric of her shirt.

“Way too fast,” Amaya concurred, unable to resist a little bite on his neck before she made herself draw back. The taste of the sea salt in his skin was enough to make her head spin all over again. “We need to stop and think.”

“Right,” Mick agreed, pulling away reluctantly as she blushed scarlet with the force of her own desire-laden thoughts.

“I only just broke up with Nathaniel,” she pointed out as he offered her his hand and she stood on slightly shaky legs.

“And I don’t even do this whole romance thing, like ever,” Mick added, managing to drag his eyes from her gorgeous face, dazzling with indecision, her lips slightly swollen from their epic kissing, only to find that they fell to her sexy, scantily clad, wet body and….yeah, he needed to stop looking at her altogether so that they could slow this down.

“Want to come back to my room?” Mick finally asked, smiling as he squeezed water from his shirt.

“Mick!” Amaya batted his arm, but he caught her hand and then kissed it gallantly, taking her by surprise with the gentlemanly gesture.

“What? We’ll watch a movie. I’ll get room service. Come on…what about ice cream?” He winked at her and her resolve to go back to the hotel alone disintegrated.

“Fine,” Amaya agreed, “But it has to be a romantic comedy.” Mick groaned, only inspiring her to add, “And I want that Hawaiian style pizza with the pineapples. Then ice cream.”

“Now that,” Mick grinned, “I can agree to.”

He slid his key card into the room’s lock soon after, flicking the lights on and striding in, quickly grabbing a few items of clothing from a drawer and offering them to Amaya. She glanced down at the heather grey shirt and fluffy white bathrobe he offered. 

“Come on, you need to change. It’s just a movie and a snack. I promise. No funny business.”

“That’s right,” She agreed, scooping the clothes up and slipping into the bathroom to change. Upon reemerging, she noticed that Mick, now attired in a plain black t-shirt and a pair of blue striped pajama pants, was flipping through the movie offerings on the tv.

“Well.” Amaya threw up her hands. 

“What?” Mick asked innocently. “They’ve got Two Weeks’ Notice.”

“That’s a good one,” Amaya noted, climbing onto the bed beside him and taking the remote from his hand. She toyed with the hem of his t-shirt teasingly and he raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s watch it later,” she suggested, whisking his shirt off as he immediately reciprocated her passionate tangent. 

************************************************************************

Later, Amaya grinned with satisfaction as she pulled the first piece of perfectly cheesy pizza from the box, sitting cross legged in Mick’s t-shirt, now crookedly hanging off of one shoulder. Mick chuckled at her reaction to the food, leaning in to take a bite from her slice. 

“Hey!” She complained, simultaneously nestling her legs even closer to Mick’s in a way that contradicted her fake irritation. 

“Sorry. Guess I just couldn’t resist,” he explained mischievously. “Anyway, if you’re going to make me watch Sandra Bullock, you owe me, Vixen.”

“Well, Heatwave,” Amaya retorted, chewing her pizza and snuggling up to his bare chest, “It’s just a little too obvious that you’re secretly a Sandra fan, so I cry foul at that suggestion. I’m just going to share this pizza slice with you out of the goodness of my heart.”

“If you ever tell anyone I’m a Sandra Bullock fan, I’ll…” Mick’s trademark growly threat faded as Amaya smiled devilishly. “Yeah. Again. I got nothin’,” he admitted sheepishly.

“I’ll keep it between us,” she promised him, watching as his eyes reverted casually to the screen as if he couldn’t care less whether Sandra and Hugh figured out they were soulmates, but he was just going to check anyway. Amaya saw his expression shift from concern to amusement and gladness as the scenes shifted and they munched their pizza. His long eyelashes, those blue eyes…that body of his…she couldn’t take her eyes off of him, torn between blush-inducing memories of everything they’d just done together and geeking out over how adorable he was being now.

Amaya had no idea what the future would hold, when she would be forced by destiny to return to her village and whether that meant her relationship with Mick would be threatened. But she did know that here and now, she’d never felt so alive, so excited and content at the same time. Her skin tingled with bliss and her heart sang with affection for Mick that it didn’t have to repress anymore. Amaya felt free, like her life really was in her own hands. Was it a deception born of her in-the-moment joy, or a promise that maybe everything didn’t have to be as depressingly simple as she’d feared? 

“Oh, no, man, come on!” Mick complained, scowling at Hugh Grant’s confused face on the screen. “Go after her!”

Amaya laughed at his seriousness, climbing onto his lap and immediately garnering his full attention. 

“What?” Mick asked, lifting a long curl from out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. 

“It’s just that…I think I love you, Mick Rory,” Amaya explained, watching his face light up. “And also, it’s time to call for the ice cream.”


	9. Anything could happen

“Oh, Nickie, if you can paint, I can walk!” Deborah Kerr exclaimed euphorically, wrapped in Cary Grant’s dumbstruck and adoring arms. Sitting in the audience at the Movie on the Beach event, staring up at the screen from the blanket they’d spread out, Ray and Gideon were both total messes.

“But he thought she just didn’t show up!” Ray spluttered, wiping tears from his eyes as Gideon nodded quickly.

“And it was her! She was the one who bought the p-p-painting!” Gideon stuttered, breaking into full-blown sobs. “I have never seen anything like that before,” she said into Ray’s chest as he hugged her, still barely holding back his own emotional response to the film. 

“It’s utterly fascinating,” she continued, pulling back from his embrace and taking a tissue from him with an appreciative nod. “Surely this is the sort of film that is referred to as a ‘tear-jerker.’ My God, Ray, I’m overwhelmed. I had no idea that crying like that could feel so…”

Ray examined Gideon’s tear-reddened blue eyes as he gently stroked a last lingering drop down her soft, pale cheek. He smoothed her auburn hair from her face, feeling the heat radiating from her outpouring of emotion. “So good?” He asked, trying to guess how she was processing the experience.

“Exactly!” Gideon agreed, suddenly grinning. “Do you know of any other gut-wrenchingly upsetting films we can watch? Can we watch them soon?”

“Um, I might need a little break,” Ray explained as they stood and gathered their things. He rolled up the blanket and tucked it under one arm, not knowing what to do (again) when she easily slid her hand into his as they strolled off. “As it happens, I had not seen that movie before, and it is going to take me some time to get over that amount of cinematic emotion.”

She chuckled, swinging their hands back and forth. “I see your point.”

“Gideon,” Ray began awkwardly, nodding at their hands, “This feels so totally natural and right to me. You know, that? I hope I’ve made that clear.”

Gideon rolled her eyes and dropped her bag on the ground. “Oh, interesting! I don’t think I’ve ever rolled my eyes before! You were just being so annoying that — well, anyway. Ray, what do you want from me? I can’t help how I feel about you. If you want to maintain boundaries because you perceive that as the moral high road due to my only recently taking on human form, I understand and I respect that.”

“But?” Ray asked, swallowing a lump of embarrassment at her irritated reaction to his somewhat unsatisfying attempt to explain himself.

“But if you want to keep our relationship platonic, stop leading me on.” Gideon took her hand away, backing up a few steps. “I’ll walk away right now, and go have some adventures on my own until the team decides it’s time to get back to work on the Wave Rider. Then, I’ll inform them of my decision to remain in human form. Because I intend to. I love being this version of me, Ray. Just please, don’t ask me to go and watch classic romantic films with you on the beach, and don’t bat your pretty eyelashes at me with those enormous brown eyes, and don’t bloody smile at me like you think I’m beautiful and brilliant and intriguing. Be my friend, be something more, or leave me alone, but be a man about it! Decide.” 

Gideon let out a long, angry, shaky breath, her hands trembling. She pressed them against her blue, flowing maxi-skirt, attempting to regain composure yet again. So this was it, having human emotions. It was exhilaratingly terrifying!

“I…” Ray began. There were a few ways he could approach this, he decided. He could apologize for behaving in such an inconsistent and somewhat cowardly, selfish manner, for one thing. Yeah, that part might be a necessity, whatever came next.

He could tell Gideon that they needed to remain friends only, that the situation was far too new and complicated for them to do anything else. She should go and enjoy herself, make some new friends maybe.

Gideon crossed her arms and gave him an impatient look. “Yes?”

“Look,” Ray explained, “Maybe I should tell you that I don’t have romantic feelings for you because you’re an android and I’m a human. I could say that a relationship between two people like us doesn’t make any sense and would obviously never work out. That I’d never want to hurt you, and our friendship has come to mean the world to me over these last few days we’ve spent almost entirely together, and, and…it really has, Gideon. It’s just that…”

Gideon had allowed a tiny, shy smile begin to curve her lips as her cheeks turned pink and she stepped slightly nearer to Ray. “Yes?” she asked.

“It’s just that if Nickie had only known that Terry was there that day, at the Empire State building! Isn’t that what just haunts you about that movie, right up until the end?” Gideon nodded at Ray's question and he licked his lips thoughtfully. “That’s why I can’t lie to you, Gideon. Because life is too short.”

He walked forward and took her in his arms, his fingers brushing against the area of her stomach left exposed by her white linen top. Gideon ran her hand over his cheek, trailing her touch down to his neck, then his chest, smiling at the way he shivered under her fingers. This was real, for both of them. Gideon slid her hands up to his firm arms and shoulders, smoothing out his black t-shirt as she let her fingers come to rest behind his neck. Ray’s head dipped down instinctively, their lips brushing together with more than passion and longing — there was an insatiable gratitude that they weren’t holding back their desire anymore, and it seemed to immediately drop a match onto the kerosine of their emotions.

As their kiss deepened, Gideon tried to concentrate on each unique facet of the experience. She knew their situation was unpredictable, knew that this might very well be their last kiss as well as their first, and she didn’t want to forget one moment of it. She felt a sigh vibrate through her and realized it was her own response to the sweet warmth of Ray’s lips and the delicious way he tasted, a hint of sea salt lingering on him. Ray’s arms tightened around Gideon as she let her own hands wander slightly, irresistibly drawn from his back downward, but then a voice called out and caused them to almost jump apart in surprise.

“Ray?” Jax said as Ray's eyes squeezed tightly shut. 

“Hello, Mr. Jackson,” Gideon greeted Jax cheerfully. She went on to say, “And hello there, Dr. Heywood…Dr. Stein…”

“Greeeaat,” Ray choked out nervously as the trio of fellow Legends indulged in history’s longest double-take.

“Gideon?” Nate, Jax, and Martin blurted out in unison. Ray opened his mouth to begin explaining what was going on, only to look at his teammates again and tilt his head to one side in confusion.

“Nate, what happened to your face? And Martin, what’s up with the crutches? Jax…why the black eye and busted lip?”

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Martin explained generously while the others rolled their eyes.

“We followed Stein’s itinerary,” Nate explained, wincing as the motion of his mouth moving to talk made his extremely sunburned skin ache. There was a thin white ointment spread all over his features, along with a white bandage on his nose. He wore a wide-brimmed hat as if to fend off any further attacks. “It didn’t pan out so well in some ways.”

“In *all* ways,” Jax groused, touching his eye and shuddering. “First, we went exploring in the national park, since Nate was too romantically distraught to enjoy it the first time he saw it. Next thing we know, we get lost and separated, only for Nate to get stuck out in the sun for hours on end.”

“While we were at the clinic getting help for the dehydration and what was left of Nathaniel’s face,” Martin continued, earning a glare from Nate, “Jefferson became embroiled in an entirely unnecessary altercation with one of the other patients."

“Unnecessary, Grey?” Jax complained, “The dude was stealing medical supplies right in front of me. What was I supposed to do, say 'enjoy your drugs, who cares if some sick person needs them?'”

“Then,” Nate added a little too eagerly, “We went scuba diving, and Martin broke his ankle trying to climb back onto the boat because he thought he saw a shark. The deck was wet and he slipped and twisted it."

“I *did* see a shark,” Martin grumbled, adjusting his crutches haughtily. 

“No, you didn’t,” Jax corrected him.

“It is indeed quite unlikely that you observed a shark while scuba diving here in Aruba,” Gideon explained helpfully. “Sightings of sharks are markedly rare in these waters.”

“Okay, back to you, buddy,” Nate reverted, waggling his eyebrows at Ray. “And you, Gideon. First of all, why are you walking around looking like a mash-up of Hermione Granger and a Victoria’s Secret Angel?”

“Why, thank you, Nathaniel,” Gideon smiled appreciatively. “I always felt that you and I had a good rapport when working together on the ship.”

“Likewise,” Nate replied with a courtly little bow that caused Ray to roll his eyes.

“Okay, look, Gideon decided that she was ready to evolve, and she built herself a body, and came here on vacation. She was going to keep it a secret until she decided if she wanted to stay like this or not, but then we crossed paths.”

“Ray and I have been checking off items on my ‘humanity bucket list,’” Gideon added merrily. “In fact, you just witnessed one of the items that I’ve most been looking forward—”

“Anyway,” Ray cut her off, his cheeks reddening, “We got closer, and it’s very new, and we’d appreciate if you guys could show a little discretion and not start shouting it from the rooftops.”

“Hey, no judgements here,” Nate said, putting his hands up in a show of innocence. 

“Yeah, Gideon, if you’re happy this way, good for you,” Jax added. “But, uh…just when were you planning to tell Mom and Dad about the new developments?” Since he accompanied this last question with a pointed look behind them, everyone spun around and came face to face with Rip and Sara, who had been strolling along the beach, lost in their own world.  
The other Legends took one look at the way Sara and Rip were holding hands, the soft and sentimental look of love gleaming in their eyes, and realized that they were now together. 

“Well, it looks as if our brave former and present Captains have a bit of their own explaining to do,” Martin noted, sitting down on the sand and putting his crutches down as if in acknowledgement that this conversation was going to take a while. 

“The very nicest sort of explanation!” Gideon squealed, racing up to Sara and Rip, who stared at her in utter astonishment, pulled from their loved-up reverie.

“Gideon?” Rip gasped, staring at his longtime A.I. friend. “How is this possible?”

“If the way everyone looks is any indication, I think we’ve got a *lot* to catch up on,” Sara noted, crossing her arms but caving immediately to a devilish smile.

**********************************************************************************

“You’re kidding me!” Mick laughed heartily, slapping Ray on the back and causing him to stumble forward slightly.

“Take it easy, man,” Ray said, smiling at his friend’s unusually good mood. They were back on the Wave Rider, preparing to set off again on their aberration-fixing adventures.

“I can’t believe that you and Gideon are—” before Mick could add any colorful metaphors to the rest of that sentence, Ray halted him by passing him a beer. They kicked back and rested their feet on the table in front of them. Nate and Jax came in and put a bowl of chips on the table, moving their friends' feet aside unceremoniously. Ray and Mick shrugged.

“We stocked up on some very necessary amenities,” Jax announced. “Future food can suck it. Give me plain old twenty-first century junk food any day of the week.”

“Hey,” Gideon complained, sitting in the chair beside Ray, “I take offense at that statement, Jefferson. I’ve done my best with very little to work with in the way of rations. No thanks to Captain—that is, Mr. Hunter, mind you.” She gave Rip a pointed look, causing him to groan over at her from where he was chatting with Sara. 

“Can you go back to being a computer program so that I don’t have to get those best friend accusatory looks from you?” Rip joked. 

“I’m afraid you’re stuck with me,” Gideon retorted, tossing a piece of popcorn at Rip’s arm, which Sara caught in midair and popped into her mouth with a friendly wink at Gideon.

“I’d have it no other way,” Rip admitted warmly as the others nodded.

“Just as long as this doesn’t turn into a Terminator movie,” Mick said with slight foreboding. Amaya leaned down from her perch beside him and grinned.

“You and your movies,” She said affectionately. 

“I assure you that I have no intention of ‘going all murdery’ on you, Mr. Rory,” Gideon replied matter-of-factly. “And Ray is going to be keeping an eye on me to make sure that my psychological transition to this humanoid state progresses properly. I believe that my superior intelligence ensures that the A.I. body-brain connection I’ve created is quite exceptional and almost flawless, but just to be sure, it is reassuring to have the extra assistance. Of course, in the meantime, we are ‘seeing where our relationship goes,’ which is quite thrilling.”

Ray walked over to her and gave her a warm hug, saying happily into her ear, “You’re damn right it is.”

“Awww, how cute,” Sara cooed, while Mick shot her an amused look.

“You’re one to talk,” Mick accused, “You and Englishman have been walking around here like two teenagers at the prom that just can’t wait to get to the Dairy Queen afterwards. Then the Holiday Inn!”

It was Mick’s turn to get pelted with popcorn by almost everyone as Martin noted, “I believe that is somewhat hypocritical of you, Mr. Rory, given the way you and Ms. Jiwe have been cozying up since we returned.”

Amaya looked nervously over at Nate, who just waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it, Amaya,” he assured her. “In fact, I wanted to talk to you about something.” He took her aside as she looked over his face in relief.

“I’m glad that Gideon was able to patch you up in the med-lab. Looks like your sunburn is almost completely gone,” Amaya said.

“Yeah, she’s a keeper,” Nate agreed. “Listen, I felt a little weird about this, but I thought you should know that I met someone in Aruba.”

“Oh, did you?” Amaya smiled as Nate looked rather pleased with his new romantic prospect.

“Yeah, when I was laid up in the clinic that day, there was this doctor…her name is Rebecca and well, we’re going to keep in touch.” Nate’s grin was almost shy. “And I felt really guilty at first about being into someone new when we’d just broken up, *until* I got a load of you and Mick.”

“I felt guilty too,” Amaya rushed to confess. “I never wanted to hurt you, Nathaniel.”

“I know that, and I’m happy for you,” he replied. “Some things aren’t meant to be…some friendships are better left just at that, you know? It took me a while to figure it out, and it hurt like hell at first, but I can see that life goes on.”

“And there’s Rebecca,” Amaya winked, hugging him as he nodded. 

“There’s Rebecca,” he repeated merrily.

“Okay, listen, we may be adorably oversaturated with sunshine and romance, but it’s almost time to get back to business,” Sara called out, the twinkle in her eye marrying her Captain’s sternness with amusement and joy. “Gideon?”

Gideon nodded, “I’ll begin scanning for any new aberrations at once, Captain.” She turned to Mick and added, “Mr. Rory, thank you for suggesting this little break, this jaunt to Aruba. I think it did us all a great deal of good.”

They all looked around at each other and considered her words. Jax laughed and said, “Some of us definitely had a better time than others, right Grey?”

“You just don’t want to admit that my itinerary was, as you younger people would put it, ‘the bomb,’” Martin replied pridefully.

“In the sense of every single activity we tried exploding into total disaster, I’d say that hits the nail on the head,” Jax shot back.

“Come on, you know we had fun in spite of all the mishaps,” Nate insisted blithely.

“Maybe a little,” Jax admitted with a reflective smile.

“*Maybe* we should come back again sometime,” Amaya suggested as Mick’s fingers intertwined with hers on the couch and he looked at her adoringly.

“I think that sounds like a splendid idea, Ms. Jiwe,” Rip agreed heartily as Sara nodded.

“Indubitably,” She said in a British accent cutely imitating Rip’s own.

“What do you think, Mick?” Amaya asked as she slipped down into his waiting arms.

Mick grinned from ear to ear and said the words that reflected everyone’s thoughts on the matter. “Definitely.”


End file.
